Changes

=== The value of synchronizing datasources ===

=== The value of synchronizing datasources ===

Synchronizing and cross-referencing the ingredients included in OpenFoodFacts with other datasources can be of mutual benefit the the quality of all datasources involved.

Synchronizing and cross-referencing the ingredients included in OpenFoodFacts with other datasources can be of mutual benefit to the quality of all datasources involved.

To achieve progress, the goal should not be to achieve a single authoritative datasource - an objective that's unlikely to be either achievable or desirable across multiple projects and cultures with subjective and reasonable opinions of their own - but to enrich each datasource and to learn and provide additional (and ideally well-substantianted) supporting information that may help each participant in future.

To achieve progress, the goal should not be to achieve a single authoritative datasource - an objective that's unlikely to be either achievable or desirable across multiple projects and cultures with subjective and reasonable opinions of their own - but to enrich each datasource and to learn and provide additional (and ideally well-substantianted) supporting information that may help each participant in future.

Sometimes cross-referencing an individual ingredient is straightforward: one OpenFoodFacts ingredient may map near-unambiguously to exactly one corresponding item in another datasource.  In practice however, various ambiguities can and do occur for various reasons:

Sometimes cross-referencing an individual ingredient is straightforward: one OpenFoodFacts ingredient may map near-unambiguously to exactly one corresponding item in another datasource.  In practice however, ambiguities can and do occur for various reasons:

   * Naming ambiguities and the effects of natural-language translation (lime, lemon, citron).

   * Naming ambiguities and the effects of natural-language translation (lime, lemon, citron).

=== Datasource: WikiData ===

=== Datasource: WikiData ===

WikiData is a [https://wiki.openfoodfacts.org/Structured_Data structured data] initiative hosted by the [https://foundation.wikimedia.org/wiki/Home WikiMedia foundation], and since it is universal in scope, food ingredients are part of the domain that it covers.  Within WikiData, each data item is identified by a QID -- a unique number (integer) and prefixed by the letter 'Q'.  For example, tomato has the WikiData QID of [https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q23501 Q23501].

WikiData is a [https://wiki.openfoodfacts.org/Structured_Data structured data] initiative hosted by the [https://foundation.wikimedia.org/wiki/Home WikiMedia foundation], and since it is universal in scope, food ingredients are part of the domain that it covers.  Within WikiData, each data item is identified by a QID -- a unique number (integer) and prefixed by the letter 'Q'.  For example, ''tomato'' has a WikiData QID of [https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q23501 Q23501].

The data model -- the schema -- is flexible and extensible, and is curated and maintained by the community.  Categories of items can be created, and categorical properties with optional-or-expected values can be added and removed over time.  Data quality varies; naively speaking, more popular items are likely to achieve greater eventual accuracy, whereas less-popular items tend to receive less attention.

The data model -- the schema -- is flexible and extensible, and is curated and maintained by the community.  Categories of items can be created, and categorical properties with optional-or-expected values can be added and removed over time.  Data quality varies; naively speaking, more popular items are likely to achieve greater eventual accuracy, whereas less-popular items tend to receive less attention.